Legislature(2005 - 2006)SENATE FINANCE 532
02/07/2006 11:00 AM Senate COMMITTEE ON UNIVERSITY OVERSIGHT
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| Start | |
| Overview - University of Alaska | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
SENATE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON UNIVERSITY OVERSIGHT
February 7, 2006
11:05 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Gary Stevens, Chair
Senator Ralph Seekins, Vice-Chair
Senator Con Bunde
Senator Thomas Wagoner
Senator Ben Stevens
Senator Lyman Hoffman
Senator Kim Elton
MEMBERS ABSENT
All members present
OTHER LEGISLATORS PRESENT
Senator Gary Wilken
Representative Berta Gardner
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
Overview - University of Alaska
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
No previous action to record.
WITNESS REGISTER
Mark R. Hamilton, President
University of Alaska System
P.O. Box 755000
Fairbanks, AK 99775
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented University of Alaska Overview
Wendy Redman
University of Alaska
P.O. Box 755000
Fairbanks, AK 99775
POSITION STATEMENT: Provided information on the University of
Alaska Overview
ACTION NARRATIVE
CHAIR GARY STEVENS called the Senate Special Committee on
University Oversight meeting to order at 11:05:47 AM. Present
were Senators Con Bunde, Kim Elton, Lyman Hoffman, Ben Stevens,
Thomas Wagoner, and Chair Gary Stevens. Other legislators
present were Senator Gary Wilken and Representative Berta
Gardner.
^Overview - University of Alaska
CHAIR GARY STEVENS announced that this was the first meeting of
the Special Committee on University Oversight. He invited
President Hamilton to come forward and speak on the state of the
University of Alaska.
11:06:22 AM
MARK HAMILTON, President, University of Alaska System (UA),
opened his remarks saying that he was looking for guidance from
the committee and that legislative scrutiny is welcomed and
warranted because UA constitutes a significant expenditure for
the state.
He briefly reviewed information included in members' packets
including: The Commonwealth North report; the legislative audit
for FY07; Missions and Measures set forth in HB 250; and the
draft report from the McDowell Group.
11:18:22 AM
CHAIR GARY STEVENS advised that the Legislature is tremendously
supportive of the university and that the committee objective is
to honestly review areas of achievement as well as areas that
require further attention.
He informed President Hamilton of his request that the National
Council on State Legislatures compare UA with other universities
throughout the nation, which could result in some work with the
National Report Card on Higher Education issued by the National
Center on Public Policy and Higher Education. In particular, he
said he is interested in discussing affordability, degree
completion statistics, how the university benefits the state,
and the expansion of the Scholars Program.
11:19:57 AM
SENATOR CON BUNDE asked him to comment on recent articles about
"dumbing down" a university degree.
MR. HAMILTON responded he evaluates how the university is doing
by comparing UA student scores on national standardized
accreditation tests against national averages. Twenty-one
nationally comparable tests are administered at UA and students
exceed the national average on 18 of the tests. UA also
administers tests for 39 certifications that don't have national
comparisons. On those certifications UA students have a 100
percent pass rate on 24. External indications, such as
acceptance to graduate school, show that University of Alaska
students are competing very well.
SENATOR BUNDE raised several personnel issues and said he would
like more information in some other venue.
PRESIDENT HAMILTON agreed.
CHAIR GARY STEVENS mentioned the appeal process.
SENATOR THOMAS WAGONER asked if more students are attending the
university now because it costs so much more to go elsewhere.
PRESIDENT HAMILTON replied he'd be guessing if he were to state
the cause and effect, but he would generally suggest that more
people believe in the worth of going to college.
In 1950 20 percent of the jobs in America required a four-year
degree and in 2006 that number increased to just 23 percent. He
interpreted that to mean that a tremendous number of jobs
require some sort of postsecondary education but not necessarily
a four-year degree. He emphasized that the university is the
place to get that postsecondary education.
SENATOR BUNDE asked how many students take remedial classes and
what that costs.
PRESIDENT HAMILTON replied the national average is about 40
percent and the University of Alaska falls in that range. The
difference is that while the national average involves a
semester or two in a single course, University of Alaska
students often require several years of remediation.
He suggested that college level remediation oftentimes returns
unacceptable results but the GED program, which he described as
a mischaracterized remediation program, is quite successful.
That test is much more exacting than the current state exit exam
yet the students taking it succeed remarkably well. This has
been ascribed to a number of reasons, but what hasn't been
considered is that particular remediation is more similar to
high school classes than the typical university pedagogy.
He proposed that the university explore an "academic red-shirt"
program. "Red-shirting" athletes allows them to grow into strong
and mature athletes and remediation should provide the same
academic result. He emphasized that this is a job for the
university and if it hasn't been particularly successful to
date, then it's time to change the approach.
SENATOR BUNDE remarked that would indicate more teachers rather
than more researchers, which he would support. Furthermore, he'd
like to see if the Alaska Scholars Program couldn't be of some
help. Allowing that he isn't a fan of the traditional "red-
shirt," he asked how academic scholarships compare to athletic
scholarships.
PRESIDENT HAMILTON explained that as a Division II school, UA
athletic scholarships are dwarfed by academic scholarships.
He described the Scholars Program as extraordinarily successful
in getting Alaska youth interested in going to college. Since
inception, the number of high school seniors who go to college
has increased from 40 to 50 percent. Knowing that the top 10
percent from each high school are going to college has served as
a real catalyst for students. Indications are that 98 percent of
those graduates still live in Alaska, which demonstrates a very
powerful and successful program.
The proposed increase in the Scholars Program and the needs-
based scholarship are very timely and the right way to go
because it will provide increased access to postsecondary
education/workforce development. He reemphasized that that is
where the bulk of the university growth has been in the last
several years.
11:43:42 AM
SENATOR BUNDE remarked this will require that university
professors teach more than one or two classes a week.
CHAIR GARY STEVENS stated that the committee would look forward
to further discussions of how the university will prepare for
and relate to the gas line.
11:45:04 AM
SENATOR LYMAN HOFFMAN observed that rural campuses are never
mentioned in any university reports. He asked President Hamilton
to comment on their role in the university system, how he sees
them growing and whether or not they may figure into any capital
budget requests.
PRESIDENT HAMILTON responded they are tracked as an important
component of the institution. The 12 community campuses receive
about 11 percent of the state appropriations, produce
approximately 25 percent of the student credit hours, and serve
28 percent of the student body.
He mentioned the new facilities in Kotzebue, Bethel, Homer,
Kenai, and Mat-Su then explained that a tremendous amount of
money was spent to increase the capacity for distance delivery.
That made it possible to export nursing and other health care
programs to the rural campuses.
Community campuses are observed constantly and administrative
reports are submitted on a bi-annual basis. Those reports
indicate that a great deal has been accomplished.
11:49:53 AM
SENATOR WAGONER asked which faculty members would teach remedial
classes and how much it would cost.
PRESIDENT HAMILTON admitted it is a significant amount of money,
but asserted that it's a worthwhile expenditure. Exact figures
would be made available. He clarified that students are already
in remediation courses; he would simply like to change the
delivery style.
SENATOR WAGONER said he brought the topic up because at the
community college level part-time faculty used to teach remedial
courses because full-time teachers weren't interested.
11:52:04 AM
WENDY REDMAN, Vice-President, University of Alaska, explained
that ABE programs [work retention skills training] are the
primary source for developmental education, but they have been
chronically under-funded. What that means, she said, is that the
students who can't get into the ABE program end up on our
doorstep. Developmental education is handled differently at each
campus, but the greatest success comes when partnered with adult
basic education programs. Those community programs take a load
off the university and are more successful because the pedagogy
is different.
SENATOR KIM ELTON stated that he would like future discussions
to include the following:
¾The web of contacts the university might have with
different communities.
¾Decision making process: Webs to the business and
labor community
¾Preparation: Contacts with K-12 community or DOE
¾What role does research play in attracting good faculty
¾How does the university research effort support the academic
effort
PRESIDENT HAMILTON agreed.
SENATOR RALPH SEEKINS observed that the university is not only
an outstanding educational institution it is also a huge
economic engine to the state. He suggested that those two
features dovetail very well.
He related a story about unsuccessful transfer of credits
between UAA and UAF and asked President Hamilton how he might
address the issue.
He mentioned that in his business no one is required to have a
four-year degree, but he does prefer that his employees have an
associate degree.
12:00:08 PM
PRESIDENT HAMILTON responded he couldn't wait to supply the data
on credit portability because it's an absolute edict that all
courses are transferable across the university. When he first
came to the university he looked into this issue and in 19 out
of 20 cases he found that the individual was pursuing a slightly
different degree. The difference is between receiving credit for
having taken the course and having the credit count toward a
degree. If someone says transferring within the system would
cause them to take an additional year to pursue a degree then
perhaps all the data isn't known.
Credit portability is precisely the kind of thing the committee
should be involved in because it relates to efficiency and
service to Alaska citizens, he emphasized. In a state
university, credits absolutely have to be transferable.
12:03:35 PM
CHAIR GARY STEVENS thanked President Hamilton for his comments
and reiterated that he would arrange a meeting with staff from
the National Council of State Legislatures to discuss national
trends and the "report card process." He then summarized the
issues that were brought up related to vocational education, the
Scholars Program, research, economic development and how it
impacts communities, affordability, completion of degree
programs and the various benefits to the state.
There being no further business to come before the committee,
Chair Gary Stevens adjourned the meeting at 12:05:17 PM.
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